


The Girl Who Lived - The Beginning

by iccelandic



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-28
Updated: 2018-01-28
Packaged: 2019-03-10 16:56:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13505808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iccelandic/pseuds/iccelandic
Summary: Poppy Potter appeared on the doorstep of 4 Privet drive with her older twin brother, Harry Potter. Strange things seem to happen wherever Poppy goes.As she learns who she is and where she's truly from, Poppy must learn to control her magical abilities, and maybe not die along the way.[Title is a WIP. Tags will be updated as story progresses.]





	1. PROLOGUE - A VERY AVERAGE FAMILY

The Dursley family of number four, Privet drive, were proud to say they were normal. The perfectly normal nuclear family, who did not get involved in any sort of ridiculous or odd behaviors, thank you very much.

Petunia Dursley stood at the stove, all neck as she cooked up some delicious bacon for her dear, dashing husband Vernon. She was tall, and thin, and very very blonde. Her blond hair was pulled up and out of her way as she fussed over the stove.  
Across the room sat a little boy in his high chair, mashing cooked eggs in his hands. A sippy cup was flung to the floor, followed by an inhuman screeching.

"Oh Duddykins!" Petunia hurried away from the stove to pluck the empty cup up, "Shush shush, dear, mummy will get you more orange juice!" She hurried to the fridge, a smile gracing her face as the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs began to sound.

Vernon Dursley stood in the doorway of the kitchen, newspaper clutched in one fat hand as he crossed to the table near Duddykins. Petunia scooped his bacon onto his plate, already piled with eggs and sausage, and even two slices of toast. She set it infront of him, along with his favourite mug full of coffee, and gave her child his sippy cup of orange juice.

Petunia hardly had a moment to spare for herself each day, but she couldn't be any happier!

The morning progressed as per usual, she did her Vernon's tie and he kissed her cheek goodbye, she picked up her baby and walked Vernon to the door. Dudley never cared when his father left.

As Vernon opened the door, he stopped in his tracks. Two identical little babies, bundled up in blankets in one little basket sat on the doorstep, with a letter tucked into their blankets. Vernon would have bent down, but his suit was much too tight for that. He still lied to himself about his size.

"Bloody... Petunia!" He roared, his face almost a purple-red colour. He was hoping this was some sort of a practical joke.

Petunia set Dudley down and rushed forward to snatch the letter up from the blankets.

"Dear Mr. and Mrs. Dursley," she read aloud. These were the most normal words in the letter. She cupped a hand over her mouth as she scanned the letter.

Mr. Dursley snatched it away from her to read it for himself.

_Lily and James Potter have been killed._   
_You are the next of kin for Harry and Poppy Potter._

"No, no, absolutely not!" He huffed and stared down at the basket. The little girl - he presumed to be Poppy - was staring at him with dark eyes, and the little boy - who must have been Harry - was yawning widely. "I will not bring their kind into our home!"  
Petunia crumbled when she read the letter, her shoulders sagged and her facade of perfect failed, as she brought the basket of babies in,

"They won't bother you one bit, Vernon." She sniffled, eyes becoming misty with tears she refused to cry. The news of her sister's death must have shocked her, despite their estrangement, and as she was a mother she couldn't just leave two babies out in the cold!

Sentimental. "Fine. But I will not have any of that nonsense, they are not to engage in such awful behaviours as their parents did."  
And so, the Dursleys set the twins up in the cupboard under the stairs, and told not a soul of the two children who would grow up there. Their minds worked hard to craft a story of what happened to the Potters. A car crash, the easiest and most believeable story they could think of.

A grey tabby cat sat at the end of their driveway, and Petunia chased it off with a broom as she wouldn't have that darn stray sullying her pretty yard. 


	2. CHAPTER ONE - THE ZOO

_She felt his hands on her waist, swinging her around like the girls on Aunt Petunia's programs. Her lips spread into a wide smile as her skirt swooshed around with the movement, flowing free and wild._

_She turned in her partner's arms, opening her eyes to look up at an ugly, sneering face. He had a pasty face and clammy lips, coming in hot for a kiss. She nearly screamed in horror at the boy, who she absolutely despised. He was one of Dudley's gang, she couldn't even remember his name but she knew him well. And his lips were almost on hers._

* * *

 

She awoke to the _thump thump thump_ of feet on the stairs above, dust falling to tickle her face. It was only a dream, she repeated over and over in her mind as she lay awake.

The cupboard was dark, locked from the outside by Uncle Vernon last night after the twins had finished using the washroom and brushing their teeth in the kitchen sink - and then scrubbing the kitchen sink.

It had been almost ten years since Poppy Potter had begun residing in the cupboard beneath the stairs in four Privet drive, with her brother Harry. It was their little slice of solitude in their small, small world.

Poppy knew Harry was still asleep by the sound of his soft snoring. She brushed some of the dust off of her nose, turning to look at the wall. It was pitch black, but she wouldn't dare turn the light on.

Harry had a nightmare last night, she thought glumly, and all she was able to do was hug him tight until he fell back asleep. They didn't have much in their 'bedroom'. Poppy could count on her fingers all of her personal possessions.

There was a sudden click and the rapping of a fist against the thin door, "Up! Get up, now!" said Aunt Petunia from the other side, in her shrill voice.

Harry's body jolted, and Poppy knew he was awake. She sat up and tugged the cord, turning the light on. They could see each other now, both sitting up in the cramped little cupboard.

Harry jammed his glasses on, squinting past the dust which collected on them, "Morning, Pops." He yawned, reaching his hands up to stretch. His knuckles brushed the top of their cupboard.

"Morning, Harry." She leaned forward to embrace him, "How was your night?"

"Good," he yawned again, "I had that dream about the flying motorbike again."

Poppy smiled at this, as it was a good dream. Before she could open her mouth to ask where they flew to, Aunt Petunia was at the door again, knocking,

"Are you awake?" She was shrieking in a whisper.

"Nearly." Harry groaned, still drowsy.

"Well hurry up." Aunt Petunia hissed, "I need you to cover the bacon, Harry. Don't burn it this time. Everything has to be just perfect for Dudley's birthday!"

Poppy looked at Harry with alarm, a sick feeling in her gut. Dudley's birthday, how could they have forgotten? Harry moved slowly, getting his socks from under their bed. He flicked the spider towards Poppy, who scrunched her nose up and set him on the wood they used as a sort of shelf.

Poppy lifted up her knapsack to search for her own pair of socks, and she found a pair of almost completely clean ones. They were a bit dusty. She put on her nicest outfit, given to her by their neighbor who often babysat the twins while the Dursleys did fun things together.

Her nicest outfit still looked ratty and didn't fit so well. She was small for her age, the shortest girl in her class, and rather thin. Dudley always stole sausages and bacon from her plate.

Poppy thought she was pretty, long brown hair with a hint of red in the right lighting, and very dark eyes. Sometimes she wondered if she could be an actress, like the women off of the television, or a model from a magazine. Harry looked similar to her, but with messy black hair and green eyes instead. And he had a scar above his eye, in an odd, jagged lightning pattern. She had always wondered about his scar, but she never asked aunt Petunia. Harry had told her not to, and explained that it was just from the car accident.

The car accident which took her parent's lives, and gave her a normal, average life with the Dursleys.

Harry was the first to leave the cupboard, to begin cooking the bacon, but Poppy stayed behind. She brushed out her hair, getting rid of any knots before she crawled out of the cupboard.

She went for the kitchen, where Harry was hard at work cooking the bacon just how Dudley liked it. Poppy, meanwhile, pulled dishes from the cupboards above the sink. Her job was to set the table nicely, and she thought she was really good at it. It was tricky to set the table, as today it was nearly buried by the sheer number of presents for Dudley. She leaned across the table to place one of the plates. These plates had flowers in the middle, and were painted in beautiful neutral tones. They weren't as fancy as the dinner plates, since it was just breakfast.

Poppy let out a surprised squeak as someone yanked hard on her hair, almost making her drop Aunt Petunia's plate. Dudley looked proud of himself, his shirt buttoned tightly around his large belly, looking ready to burst. He had pulled on Poppy's hair, once again. He liked to beat up on her and her brother. Poppy's head throbbed with pain.

Uncle Vernon entered the room with his newspaper tucked up under his arm, with Aunt Petunia close behind him. He shouted, "Comb your hair," at Harry, and turned to look at Poppy. She felt small under his gaze. The eggs sizzled on the pan as Harry started on them.

Poppy didn't see what made her aunt and uncle so crazy for Dudley. He had round cheeks and watery blue eyes, and he always bullied the Potter twins - though, maybe, that was a reason why they liked Dudley so.

Harry brought the eggs and bacon over, dishing them onto the plates with a bit of difficulty. There wasn't much room to move by the table.

"Thirty-six?" Dudley's cheeks wobbled as he spoke, "That's two less than last year!"  
Petunia was quick on the ball, "No! Look, we've got one from Auntie Marge, right here, see?" She lifted a larger gift up.

"Thirty-seven then." Dudley was looking very red. A tantrum was boiling over as he let out loud yells cursing her for not giving him all his deserved gifts.

Uncle Vernon just looked bothered by the wailing as Petunia began trying to soothe him, with promises of another gift when they went out.

Poppy stood staring at the mountain of toys, computers and televisions, and a racing bike. The skirt she was wearing was a present from Mrs. Figg, the kind woman who watched the twins, from last year. The shirt she was wearing was also a present, from Harry. She would have loved even one of those presents Dudley got, and he was now going to have thirty-nine, with the addition of two more when they went out.

Dudley had begun unwrapping his presents, with Vernon, Harry and Poppy watching the wrapping paper fall in big clumps to the ground. He had a racing bike, a video camera, a remote control airplane, sixteen new computer games, and a VCR. He'd just finished unwrapping a golden watch when Petunia returned. Poppy hadn't noticed her leave in the first place.

"Bad news," She said, "Mrs. Figg's broken her leg, she can't take them."

Poppy felt joy spread inside her, as Dudley's mouth fell open, absolutely horrified. They always went somewhere fun on Dudley's birthday, to the movies and restaurants and amusement parks, they being the Dursleys and Dudley's awful friends. The Potter twins stayed with Mrs. Figg, who may have been kind but her house smelled like cabbage and she made them look at pictures of very ugly cats. Petunia looked devastated, and angered, and Poppy hated that it made her feel good. Mrs. Figg's leg was broken, but now they would have to take her to Dudley's party.

"We could phone Marge," Uncle Vernon suggested.

"Don't be ridiculous, she hates them." Petunia uttered. Even Dudley was thinking, truly a difficult task for him. They always seemed to talk about the twins this way, as though they weren't even there - or like they were something nasty, that couldn't understand them.

"What about whats-her-name, your friend... Yvonne?" Vernon tried again.

"She's on vacation in Majorca!" Petunia snapped.

"You could just leave us here." Harry suggested. Poppy thought that might be a brilliant idea, but Petunia and Vernon clearly didn't feel the same.

"And come back to the house in ruins? Absolutely not!" Vernon sneered.

"We wouldn't blow up the house." Poppy offered, but it fell on deaf ears. The Dursleys thought the worst of them.

"I suppose we could bring them to the zoo... And leave them in the car." Petunia suggested, with a face like she'd stuck a whole lemon in there.

"That car is new, they aren't sitting alone in it..." 

Dudley scrunched his face up and wailed, not really crying but knowing that his mother would give him whatever he wanted to make him stop.

"Dinky Duddydums! Don't cry, mummy won't let your special day be ruined." She tried to soothe her baby, and let out a cry of exasperation as the doorbell rang.

Dudley was done his crying when Piers Polkiss arrived, his equally ugly best friend. Piers was much scrawnier, and he held peoples arms behind their back while Dudley did the punching. He looked like a human-rat hybrid.

Poppy stayed close to Harry, and soon all six of them had piled into the car with Dudley and Piers sitting in the front seats, and Poppy and Harry squished in the back.

They'd been warned by Vernon a few minutes before they left, he'd pulled them aside with his face purple and his sausage finger wagging, warning them, threatening them. With the threat of being locked into their cupboard for any nonsense, they set off. Poppy quickly fell asleep on the ride there, head on Harry's shoulders. He only shook her awake when they reached the zoo.

As they pulled up at the zoo gates, Poppy was amazed, she couldn't believe all the different animals they had at the zoo. Even with Dudley and Piers banging on the glass, scaring away all the animals and making a general ruckus, she had the time of her life. She stuck by Harry's side, unsure of this big new place.

She'd gotten an lemon ice pop, just like Harry's, when the group stopped to get chocolate ice cream for Dudley and Piers. She wasn't fond of the taste, and ended up giving it to Harry. His smile was definitely worth it.

They wandered past the gorilla, who was doing his impression of Dudley very well. Poppy almost couldn't tell the difference between the two. Then they passed by some lions, and there were seagulls scattered everywhere, hunting for any of the food that people dropped.

They ate in the zoo restaurant, and Poppy had never eaten in a restaurant. Dudley cried about his knickerbocker glory not having enough ice cream on top, so Uncle Vernon got a new one for him and Poppy and Harry finished off the old one together.

They were finally making their way towards the snake house, which sent Dudley over the edge with excitement, since snakes were such cool animals. Harry was talking to a snake, who draped lazily on a rock, or a branch. Poppy wouldn't remember which it was in the times to come. She thought it was quite silly, how her brother talked to that snake, and had gone off down to look at a handsome black snake who was coiled up around a log.

The next thing she knew, there was a scream, followed by many screams. She turned around just in time for the large snake her brother had been speaking with to slither past her, heading for the door. She felt her heart racing as she whipped her head around to look at Harry and-

Dudley. Dudley was behind the glass in the snake's exhibit, soaking wet and banging on the glass. Poppy ran over to help Harry get up, whispering into his ear,

"What happened?"

"What did you do!?" Uncle Vernon howled in their faces. They were given no time to properly explain until they were home.  
Dudley had a new gift, and was sitting on the couch looking absolutely traumatized. Piers had went home already, and Petunia was tending to her ickle Duddykins.

Uncle Vernon cornered the twins as they attempted a hasty retreat into their cupboard, and he was not happy. Poppy felt fear bubble in her stomach just at the thought of him yelling.

He didn't yell, just ground out for them to stay in their little cupboard, and there would be no food. That's when Poppy tried to get it out of him, as they were locked inside the cupboard under the stairs.

"Harry," she stared at the locked door, "what happened? How did that happen?"

Harry looked at her with confusion, "I haven't a clue! It was like... like magic. The glass just vanished and then Dudley fell in." Poppy didn't believe him, she just kicked her skirt and socks off, and crawled under the blankets.

From her backpack, she pulled a book to read. It was an old book of Dudley's, he forgot it even existed, and it had pictures of animals in it. She wanted to look at some of the animals they'd seen that day, like the lions or the elephants. Or the snakes. Harry did the same, and crawled in next to her to read over her shoulder.

They both tried to ignore their rumbling stomachs all night, and eventually they passed out with the book open to a page on Boa Constrictors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!!
> 
> Please leave me any comments or critiques. If I misspelled anything or made any grammatical errors please let me know!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!! This is something I've wanted to do for awhile, I LOVE little Poppy and have a lot of ideas for her story.
> 
> Please leave me any comments or critiques. If I misspelled anything or made any grammatical errors please let me know!


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